Top actors to perform in city

Beijing plays host to artists from across the country in a variety of shows until January

Home to abundant high-quality arts resources, Beijing has launched a performing arts season named Grand Performances in Beijing. Running from November to January, the performing arts season will put on 40 shows in genres including dance drama, musical and traditional Chinese opera.

On the evening of Nov 5, the opening show of an original dance drama titled Spring in Yangjialing was staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. Yangjialing is a revolutionary site in Yan'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, where the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art took place in 1942.

A production by the NCPA and the Beijing Dance Academy, the dance drama tells the stories of young artists in the old revolutionary base of Yan'an during wartime.

Notably, some model workers were offered free entry to the opening show. "We are very excited to be invited to watch the performance live," Wang Ying, an employee of Beijing's Xidan Department Store, told Beijing Evening News.

Li Hui, another invitee, said to the newspaper: "I'm profoundly touched by the undying spirit of artists that has been passed down from generation to generation depicted in Spring in Yangjialing."

Li uses a wheelchair after being involved in a car crash. He later founded Xinzhiyuan, a facility that provides arts-based rehabilitation services for people with disabilities.

The performing arts season is hosted by the Publicity Department of the Beijing Committee of the Communist Party of China. The performances scheduled to be staged cover a wide range of subjects.

The Kunqu Opera show Li Qingzhao and the play Lin Zexu feature traditional Chinese culture. Li Qingzhao is a Song Dynasty (960-1279) poetess who stood out in a literary world dominated by men. Lin Zexu is a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) official who led the fight against opium smuggling.

The dance drama The Eternal Wave tells the stories of Chinese revolutionaries. The musical No 42 Sanlitun looks at the present-day life.

The performers hail from organizations across the country. They include art troupes and performing arts organizations from Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Hebei, Henan and Zhejiang provinces.

Renowned artists including Li Hongtu, Lyu Yang, Gu Weiying, Wang Ping, Jia Wenlong and Han Zaifen will grace the stage.

To increase accessibility, the organizers have scheduled a number of free performances and some shows will be offered at discounted prices.

The shows are being held both online and offline. The physical venues include landmark theaters such as the NCPA and Beijing Poly Theatre, as well as small urban performing spaces such as the Fanxing Theater and Xiaoke Theater.

Some of the offline performances are broadcast live on online platforms. Information on the shows and troupes is made available on a WeChat mini program.

The performing arts season coincides with the Chinese Opera Culture Week and important holidays such as New Year's Day and Spring Festival, which is expected to enhance the artistic vibe around the city. New cultural attractions have been created based on resources such as scenic spots and restaurants close to the performance venues to enhance the audience experience.

The audience are reminded to strictly abide by the venues' COVID-19 precautions such as capacity caps and health code checks upon entry. Face masks are required to be worn throughout the entirety of each show.

Beijing has traditionally been a thriving arts hub in the country and is home to a group of well-established arts organizations and large numbers of outstanding artists.

In July 2021, Beijing put forward the idea of creating the city culture brand of Grand Performances in Beijing to boost its cultural industry and bolster its position as a national center for cultural creation and activities.

From July 2021 to the end of June, 216 performance venues in Beijing had staged a total of 22,059 performances to 4.57 million people and generated a box office revenue of 667 million yuan ($93 million).

huyuyan@chinadaily.com.cn